Mystic Island, apart from having the big metropolis on it, also had a few small farmlands, and Equestrian Clubs, and things like that.

It was Saturday so they were all at a horse ranch on the western side of the island where the fields were wide open and very lush with forests and trails all around…

All the rangers were helping ride horses to help determine which ones were perfect to send to Star Camp as part of the horse activates. Twilight was with them too, and so was Principal Celestia; as an ex-champion horse-rider and jumper, this was her perfect activity, test riding the horses.

Sapphire was in awe at all the horses in the stables and in the field. As usual, she formed quick friendships with all of the horses due to her animal talents. The girls found this all wonderful too as they all walked their horses through down the trail. Fluttershy giggled as she felt the wobbling of the horse walking, “This feels kind of funny.”

Celestia rode up alongside her and instructed, “Squeeze your knees more, then you won’t wobble so much.”

Fluttershy did as she was told, and she stopped wobbling. She took a moment to pat the horse kindly, to which the horse nickered happily.

Lightning, Buddy and Rhymey on the other hand didn’t feel so optimistic. They weren’t exactly into horses like the girls were.

"Of all the things I've done in my life, I can't even ride a stallion." Lightning grumbled.

“I feel like a fool.
This is so uncool.” Rhymey groaned.

“Ah, come on, Rhymey. This is fun.” said Twilight, “I wish I had done this sooner.

Buddy could only sigh, “Whatever it is that draws chicks and horses together, I’ll never know.”

The girls could only roll their eyes at the typical boy-mannter.

“Hey, the field’s wide open here.” said Sunset “Maybe we could gallop?”

“Ah, yeah, I’m up for that.” said Rainbow.

“Did she say “gallop”?” Buddy asked, and you can bet both he, Lightning and Rhymey were not up for it.

“No Sir'ee!
Not Me!” said Rhymey. Buddy argeed and both decided to just get off, but Celestia rode up behind them, “Oh, no, you don’t, boys.” she scolded, “We need to test the horses' speeds and durability, and that means galloping. If we do it, then so do you. Okay?”

The boys sighed but they complied.

Soon everyone was galloping across the fields and feeling the wind in their hairs. “YEE-HAW! Ride ‘em, girl…!” Rainbow hollered.

“This is so neat!” cried Twilight. Sapphire was like an expert with horses as her horse flawlessly galloped past everyone as break neck speed. "Woah... now that's an expert!" Rainbow exclaimed in joy.

The boys were bouncing up and down like eggs in a frying pan, and they looked really silly.

“Okay, get ready to stop!” Celestia called, “And… Whoa!” the girls all stopped their horses perfectly, and Rhymey did too, but while Buddy stopped his horse he felt so numb from all that rough bouncing that he slipped right off the saddle and landed on a pile of dung in the ground.

“Eww…!!” everyone else exclaimed, and Buddy carefully got up and observed the stained back of his pants, “I guess it was number two.” he grumbled. That’s when the others couldn’t help but laugh at him softly. Suddenly, a Water Gun attack came and splashed him all over. "Gah! What the-?"

"Osha. Osha. Oshawott." Oshawott laughed from the side as he ran away. "OSHAWOTT! YOU GET BACK HERE!" Buddy cried as he chased after the tiny sea otter pokemon as the others laughed even harder.

Soon, the gang rode back to the stables. Buddy’s filthy pants stained the saddle seat. “Luckily for me I keep spare pairs in my backpack.” he said, and he went off to change. The others were still chuckling softly at how funny it was for him to fall in horse dung. Sapphire placed her horse back into the stables and she cleaned the saddle herself.

The Ranch Owner, whose name was Bill came out of his house with Celesto after discussing a business deal for the horses, “I’m truly grateful for what you’ve done for us.” Celesto said. “Oh, it’s nothing…” replied Bill “The horses get well-treated, everyone gets a fine ride, and also… a little cold hard cash never hurt anyone either.”

Then Bill headed off to do some of his own chores, but he stopped a moment and sniffed the horrible smell. “Ooh, is that what I think it is?” he asked.

Rainbow came with the dirty saddle in her hands, “It sure is.” and she went off to clean it. Celesto gave her a hand and showed her the proper way to clean a saddle from his experience as a former stable-hand. “That’s right, don’t use too much polish or the seat will be slippery.”

Fluttershy helped to feed the horses. “There now, some nice oats for you, and if you eat it all… I’ve got sugar-cubes.”

The horses eyes twinkled and they began to eat up their lunch.

Sunset and Rhymey were mucking out the stalls, and wearing clothes pegs on their noses to block the horrible smell. “Ugh!” Sunset groaned as she scooped a bunch of dirty hay into a wheelbarrow, “This stuff is way gross.”

“You’re telling me
It sure is nasty.” agreed Rhymey, and the horse in the stall next door let out a huge toot followed by a huge plopping sound.

Sunset and Rhymey gawked at one another, not liking how that sounded and almost not wanting to go get it right away.

Celesto could only chuckle at them, “Trust me,” he warned them, “It’s grosser than it looks.”

He then heard the sound of a horse neighing outside. He walked out of the stables and saw Celestia still ridding.

She looked so proud and beautiful with the wind blowing in her long hair. Celesto sighed heavenly at some of the good memories it brought back, of when he was a simple stable-boy working at the Equestrian club. That was where they met and began to fall in love, and when he made enough money, he bought a horse for her; Bud, whom, everyone remembered, was euthanized after a serious accident that broke two of his legs.

The years after that were hellish, but everyone already knew the story and it was all well behind them, and they preferred to focus on the here and now.

Sapphire wasn't told about that because it would bring back the unwanted memories. Now she was looking at all the horses in the stables. There was one horse who caught her eye. It was a white mare with white mane and tail with black hooves. It wore a red halter on it's face. But... there was something not right.

Sapphire walked into the stable and examined the white horse carefully. There was no sign of malnutrition or dehydration. Suddenly, "I see you're checking Winter." Bill said coming towards the stable, surprising Sapphire.

"Oh uh, sorry." Sapphire apologized.

"No, no it's fine. I've been worrying about this young girl too." Bill admitted. Fluttershy and the others came over. "What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked.

"She's been acting sluggish and she hasn't been her usual hyper and peppy self for years." Bill explained. Winter whinnied and turned to the right. "I had multiple vets come and check her but they couldn't find anything."

"That does sound weird." Lightning stated. Winter whinnied again and this time moved her head on Sapphire's shoulder. "Hey girl." she greeted. Winter neighed and nudged her gently. "Looks like she's taken quite a liking to you." Bill stated.

Sapphire giggled as Winter nuzzled her. "Aww, you're a sweet girl aren't you." she cooed. Bill gave a small smile at the scene as well as everyone else.

The Next Day

Sapphire was just waking up in her bedroom and saw the two beedy eyes of... a horse?!

"What the-?!" she fell out of bed and stood up in shock at the white mare in front of her. "Winter?! How'd you get here?"

The Dazzlings, the minions and Vulcan came in, "Sapphire whats- What's with the white horse?" Aria asked.

"Isn't that Winter from yesterday?" Adaigo said. "The one you told us was acting strange."

"Yeah, how'd you get here?" Sapphire asked, rubbing her neck.

"Maybe she followed you home?" Sonata asked.

"No way, I didn't hear her when we left yesterday afternoon." Sapphire added.

"Maybe she snuck out at night?" Aria inquired. "You know, unlocked the gate and walked out."

"But how did she know to come here?" Bronc asked.

"Right now, we should get her home before Bill freaks out when he notices she's gone." Sapphire cut in and she lead Winter through the hallway and out of the castle doors... to find her friends and Bill standing there. "Winter, there you are." Bill said with relief. He came up to her and rubbed her, "You scared me. How'd you get here?"

"We think she snuck out at night somehow." Adagio claimed.

"Huh? What would explain the broken latch on her stable." Bill said.

"Broken latch? She chewed it until it broke?" Sonata asked.

"She must have or she figure out how to let herself out." Bill stated. Winter whinnied and went over to Sapphire and placed her nose on her shoulder. "Aww..." she cooed.

"Come on girl, let's get you back to the stables." Bill said gently. Winter came over to him and she let him take her back to the stables.

"Well you're morning turned out to be exciting." Lightning smirked.

"Hehe." Sapphire blushed.

At School, Sunset was having lunch with her friends. "So has Bill said anything about Winter's behavior?" Fluttershy asked.

"Nothing yet." Lightning said.

"But I have noticed something." Sunset stated.

"What is it?" Rainbow asked.

"Winter seemed a lot happier whenever Sapphire came around her. At the stables and at her castle." Sunset explained. The gang thought about that for a moment. "Yeah... you're right. She eyes do lit up a little." Fluttershy agreed. "But why?"

Suddenly, "What the world?!" Sapphire voice came. The friends got up and went towards the lunch line and saw Winter standing in front of Sapphire! "How did she get in here?!" Rainbow asked incredulously.

"Don't even think of looking at us!" The Dazzlings said in unison from their lunch table. They attended the school ever since Sapphire reformed them. Winter whinned and sniffed Sapphire's apple. "Hey.. that's my apple, girl. Come on, let's get you to the main office."

"I'll take your tray, sugarcube." Applejack offered. Sapphire handed Applejack her tray and she lead Winter to the main office. You can bet Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna and Grandruler were shocked to see the horse at their school. "How'd she get in here?" Celesto asked in shock.

"Beats me." Sapphire stated. Soon Bill came and got Winter... again. "I don't know why she's doing this. She's never done this in years."

"Maybe... I can check her out, Bill?" Sapphire asked. Bill nodded and Sapphire approached Winter. Sapphire touched Winter's face and her eyes suddenly lit up with white light. She saw Winter near a small mount of dirt looking very sad and depressed then she heard her thoughts. "I miss you Bud. I really miss you."

Sapphire's eyes turned back to normal and she blinked. "What is it?" Celesto asked.

"I.. saw her standing near a small mount of dirt and saying 'I miss you Bud'. Whose Bud?" Sapphire asked innocently. The gang looked at each other, wincing. "What is it?" Sapphire asked. Celestia sighed and decided to finally explain that years ago she was a horse jumper and Bud was her horse that Celesto bought for her. But during a jump he was spooked and crashed, breaking two legs and was forced to be euthanized.

"Woah..." Sapphire gasped. Winter nuzzled her. "So Winter was grieving too, but.. when I saw her, her stomach was larger than usual." Sapphire said. Then they heard a tiny whinny and saw a brown colt galloping over to them. The colt was almost as tall as Winter but not there yet. The colt and Winter came together and Winter licked the colt on it's neck.

"She had a foal?! When!" Bill explained. Winter whinned and Sapphire translated, "She had her a year after Bud passed away. She kept him a secret from everyone until now." The colt went over to Celestia and nibbled her hair. "Hey, don't." she said playfully nudging the colt away. "What's him name?" Twilight asked.

Winter whinned again, "Bud jr." Sapphire translated.

"Aww..." Fluttershy cooed. Winter neighed and nuzzled Sapphire, "Hehehe, guess you have another horse for your business, Bill." she teased. Bill nodded, while smiling at the mother and her new revealed colt.